I'm done - they can have the car back.

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BuddyRayAtl

Member
Joined
May 13, 2019
Messages
10
I really wanted to love this car. I really did. I was excited to own our first electric car.
But, with 750 miles on the 2019 Leaf Plus we hit a deer. The car still had the dealer tags on it.
It didn't even kill the deer - and just pushed a dent into the plastic bumper - and cost $6k to repair. I can't believe how fragile the Leaf is. For example, the deer broke a plastic mounting tab on the headlight assembly - can't replace the plastic mount - have to buy an entire headlight assembly - $2,800.
Then it took over a month to get all the parts.
Then the front radar unit kept failing.
and failing
and failing
and 110 days later and many, many trips to the dealer and 4 radar units, one Adas unit (whatever that is) and countless hours of service time testing wiring harnesses and other components and we're still no closer to a solution than we were 110 days ago.
This week Nissan's MASSIVE computer failure has put the service shop so far behind they can't even look at my car for 5 days.
And there is no Factory Field Service expert in our area - they share one from the next state over - but that's OK because apparently he doesn't have a clue how to fix the car either.
Tonight I do some more Googling, hoping to find my own solution, and I find the Class Action Lawsuit against Nissan for failures of . . . . wait for it . . . . their front radar units. And I discover that Nissan has been having problems with the Bosch radar units since 2012. Seriously Nissan, you can't solve a parts problem in 7 years? No wonder you lost 99% of your profit margin last year.

I give up - I can't spend my life in a dealer service waiting room.

The only good news is that Nissan Consumer Affairs has already offered to start the "buy back" process. I don't know yet what they are going to offer me - but since I paid more for this car than a new Tesla Model 3, it better be the full price I paid plus the transportation fees I paid to bring it from N.C. plus something for months of aggravation, time spent in dealer waiting room, etc.
 
BuddyRayAtl said:
one Adas unit (whatever that is) and countless hours of service time testing wiring harnesses and other components and we're still no closer to a solution than we were 110 days ago.
Sorry to hear about your probs. A quick Google search for nissan adas turned up hits like https://rts.i-car.com/oem-information/nissan/nissan-adas.html.

Another search turned up https://www.hitachi.com/New/cnews/month/2017/09/170927.html. If you didn't know, Hitachi does produce many automotive components: http://www.hitachi-automotive.co.jp/en/index.html. They have some of them on display at Tokyo Motor Show (I've attended 5 separate years).

If you've sworn off Leafs, Bolts are heavily discounted but the Federal tax credit on GM EVs/PHEVs is $3750 and falls again to $1875 on 10/1/19 (https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/taxevb.shtml). Example: https://www.chevroletoffremont.com/VehicleSearchResults?search=new&make=Chevrolet&model=Bolt%20EV&sort=salePrice%7Casc. I bought from them at end f Jan 2019 when the tax credit was $7500 but discounts smaller.

Inventory at that dealer is dwindling though: currently only showing 6 LT's and 58 Premiers. Earlier in the year, they had as many as over 200 allegedly in stock. If you want a DC FC inlet (SAE Combo aka Combo1 of CCS), it's a $750 option on both trim levels.
 
I am sorry to hear of your automotive odyssey. It is frustrating enough to have had a collision with your new car. Adding an endless maze of repair difficulties must be infuriating.

I think that all of these cars with new tech are neat ideas, but do not make sense to own. My wife got a new Honda CRV (a car that everyone knows and trusts), and we chose the mid level trim. It included the automatic braking, lane departure, rear camera and radar, and all of that stuff. Plus, we got included the higher level turbo engine.... What happened, the car makes noises every time someone passes you, the car brakes by itself in traffic, and the turbo engine design makes the oil get diluted with gasoline, which will affect engine wear protection. Also, we keep on getting error messages on the dash that the various radar sensors are not working. We have had 2 bumper sensors replaced... And this is even without any bumps or crashes!! If these things break after warranty, I will dump this high tech toy, and buy a 10 year old basic car.

After all of these experiences, I think that from now on, I will only buy the BASE level of any car model, with as little additional tech as possible.
 
cwerdna said:
BuddyRayAtl said:
one Adas unit (whatever that is) and countless hours of service time testing wiring harnesses and other components and we're still no closer to a solution than we were 110 days ago.
Sorry to hear about your probs. A quick Google search for nissan adas turned up hits like https://rts.i-car.com/oem-information/nissan/nissan-adas.html.

Thanks cwerdna, that's really interesting, and scary, information. I found quotes in the i-car site like "just 1 degree of misalignment of any part in front of or near the radar unit can cause a problem."
Following a wreck, with repair by a dealer body shop that just doesn't work on many Leaf's and especially not 2019 models with Pro Pilot, I'm increasingly concerned that something related to the body work, not the electronics, is to blame.
Makes me even more sure I want my money back.

Not interested in a Bolt. I'm in my late 60's and like to keep cars for 20 years - so I'll be in my late 80's when I give this one up. Bolt is just too small and too hard to get in/out of with bad knees. Same is actually true of a Tesla 3 - you practically have to crawl into that thing and lay down. May just need to wait till someone builds an electric sedan that doesn't cost $85k.
 
OP: you sound aggravated at not killing the deer.

As for your complaints, they go hand in hand with just about any low volume , advanced tech car.
 
BuddyRayAtl said:
I really wanted to love this car. ...
Wow! Thanks for sharing your experience. I'll keep this in my back pocket next time someone complains about Tesla repairs. To be fair just about any car forum has similar bad experiences. Cars are complicated and not all mechanics are the highest paid geniuses.
 
I just heard from Nissan "Customer Assurance" again. They have FINALLY setup an appointment for a service specialist to come to my dealer to look at the car . . . . . . wait for it . . . . . . on October 3 - almost a month from now. That will mean over 90 days of working on this problem and no promise they will fix the car then.
And the dealer says 1) he's out of things to try and 2) once an appointment with a specialist is set, he's not supposed to work on the vehicle anymore anyway.

I knew that buying a "low volume, high tech" car would be interesting. What I did not expect it the total and almost negligent way Nissan as a company and network of dealers is unprepared to service these cars. They claim this car is their future. Yet they don't have enough parts in the network, they don't have mechanics properly trained, and they don't have enough resources in place to support the inadequately trained dealers.

I have several friends that own Tesla's. Yes, they have had challenges, but they have always felt Tesla was hustling to help them. One "early adopter" friend who bought one of the first Tesla's off the line has had several major parts of the car repaired - not because they broke but because Tesla started including newer better components in their cars and retrofitted his at no charge.

I'm beginning to understand why Nissan's profit margin dropped by 99% last quarter.
 
BuddyRayAtl said:
I'm beginning to understand why Nissan's profit margin dropped by 99% last quarter.
.
And why I say that Nissan customer support is below contempt, at least with regards to support for the LEAF in the USA.

People of this forum don't like to hear this said because they take it as an attack on their favored car. The result is customers like you.
 
Yeah deer are pretty destructive.
Maybe an older leaf that hasn't hit a deer and doesn't have as much gold plated junk?
 
Just an update. The Nissan employee who "negotiated" my buyback could not have been nicer or more professional. I'm pretty much getting all my money back, including tax, dealer prep, shipping, etc. Didn't even have to get ugly, they offered a buyback before I asked for it.

And yea - after looking at my options again - I'm buying another Leaf Plus.
Most EV's are too expensive.
Bolt is just too small.
Model 3 only comes in Black or stark white interior and the wife just said "no!" Tesla really needs to get out of the Model T mentality ("You can have any color you want as long as it's black" Henry Ford).

So, Leaf it is. Hopefully we won't hit a deer with this one and Nissan will learn to service them before I have another problem.
Of course, the closest Leaf to Georgia that matched my color and equipment options was in Mass. So I'm waiting for them to truck it down here. There were only 2 in the entire country (Mass and AZ) that matched what I wanted - Nissan really needs to build more of these things in fun colors.
 
Yeah........I would have chased down the deer and killed it and made sure that my car had enough damage to write it off too!
 
sthbeach said:
Yeah........I would have chased down the deer and killed it and made sure that my car had enough damage to write it off too!


911 caller: Hey, I just accidentally shot my friend and I think he's dead. What do I do?

911 dispatcher: First of all, you should make sure he's dead.

911 caller: . . . . . <BANG!> . . . Okay, now what?
 
OK, so Update #2. The buyback of the Leaf they could not repair went perfectly as did the purchase of the new Leaf from a dealer in MA. We've had it now for about 6 months and put about 4k miles on it. All is well - we love it and luckily I haven't had to take it in for Service.
 
Yeah there's too many deer around here too. I turned my land into a safe space for them, but there's just too many.
One got hit right in front of my house by a brand new car. It smashed the front, broke the windshield, dented the roof plus boot lid and broke a mirror. I'm pretty sure the car was totalled.
Then some one hauled off the deer. I was going to cut it up and feed it to my dogs.
 
Oilpan4 said:
Yeah there's too many deer around here too. I turned my land into a safe space for them, but there's just too many.
One got hit right in front of my house by a brand new car. It smashed the front, broke the windshield, dented the roof plus boot lid and broke a mirror. I'm pretty sure the car was totalled.
Then some one hauled off the deer. I was going to cut it up and feed it to my dogs.


Another way of looking at it is that there are too many cars and people, driving too fast to avoid the numerous deer, who live there after all.
 
New Mexico is the 6th least population dense state.
So there's not nearly as many people as inmost of the US.
 
Way too many deer and not enough predators and hunters. Save a car kill a deer is my motto. Habitats are getting smaller predator numbers are dwindling. Not as many people hunting.
 
Hunters kill bucks in preference to does, which does nothing at all to control the deer population because even one buck can and will impregnate every doe in a herd, if he's the only one left. If they were serious about controlling deer, they would kill only does. (They would also stop claiming that bucks with big racks are dying of old age, as that process involves not growing large antler racks anymore, because the buck's teeth are worn out.) It's edge habitat like farmland that encourages deer to breed, so the idea that humans are the cause is pretty close to spot on. There are more deer now than there were before Europeans settled here, because we've essentially changed the habitat to encourage deer to breed.

I wrote something about this decades ago. Let's see if I can find it online...nope, it's gone.


I guess we can "call it" for this topic...
 
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